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Top-Ranked Stanford Vies for NCAA West Regional Crowns

Gresham, Or - For the past seven years, the top-ranked Stanford men's cross country team has captured the NCAA West Regional title. The Cardinal will again be the prohibitive favorite when the Cardinal travels to the Pacific Northwest to face the other best teams in the West on Saturday, November, 15 at Blue Lake Park.

The Cardinal women, also top-ranked during the 2003 season, have dominated the NCAA West Regionals with seven titles in the last eight years. Expect more domination this year.

The men's 10,000 meter race is slated to begin at 11:00 a.m. while the women harriers are scheduled to start their 6,000 meter race shortly after 12:15 p.m.

The forceast is for cold temperatures with wind and rain which may mean that the Blue Lake course may be a mudfest. The Blue Lake course is a flat course run mostly on grass. The layout is also considered a great spectators course.

The NCAA West Regionals returns to Blue Lark Park for the first time since 1999. The top two teams automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 24 in Waterloo, Ia. The West Regionals are one of nine NCAA Regionals taking place across the country.

From day one, the Stanford men's team has been ranked #1. The Cardinal collected 479 points in the latest national rankings compared to 464 for Wisconsin. Colorado, Iona and Northern Arizona round out the nation's top five. Stanford has finished fist in all five meets entered this year. In their most recent meet, the Cardinal men cruised to an easy team victory for the fourth straight season at the Pac-10 Championships at Washington State. Stanford tallied 23 points to outdistance second-place Oreogn with 91. Ian Dobson became the fourth straight conference winner from Stanford with a time of 24:33.90 over 8,000 meters. Two-time defending champion Grant Robison finished second (24:35.50) while Donald Sage placed fourth (24:44.90). Five Cardinal runners placed in the Top-9.

The Stanford women's team was recently elevated to #1 in the nation. The Cardinal has generated 387 points compared to 380 for defending NCAA champion BYU. North Carolina, Notre Dame and North Carolina State round out the nation's top five. Stanford has dominated the competition in recent weeks. For the eighth straight year, the Stanford women captured first place at the Pac-10 Championships at WSU. The Cardinal women tallied 22 points to easily beat eight other conference schools including runnerup Arizona State with 78 points. For the second straight year, Sara Bei won the conference title by winning in a time of 21:12.10 over 6,000 meters. Alicia Craig was second (21:12.20) while freshman Arianna Lambie placed third (21:21.40). Five Stanford runners placed in the Top 10.

The Stanford women have won five of six races entered this year.

Last year at the NCAA West Regionals at Stanford, the Cardinal men defeated 22 other teams in scoring 21 points comapred to 43 for Oregon. Donald Sage won the individual title over 10,000 meters (30:13). Six Stanford runners finished in the Top-9. The Stanford women won the regional title with 24 points compared to 70 for Arizona State. Alicia Craig won the individual title with a time of 20:39 over 6,000 meters. Four Stanford runners finished in the Top-5.